1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates in general to cables, such as a module having attached cables for inserting into and connecting with multiple connector ports of a device. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to systems and methods for preventing the incorrect insertion into connector ports of plugs attached to Ethernet cable bundles.
2. Description of the Background Art
A system may include a plurality of devices that may be connected together. These connections may be made with the help of cables. For example, in control systems, various devices such as actuators, controllers and display units are connected to a control panel. These connections may require many cables to be plugged into the numerous connector ports. Incorrect connections, i.e., one or more of the individual cables being inserted into incorrect connector ports causes the system to malfunction or not function at all.
Another example of a system, including a plurality of devices that may be connected with the help of cables, is an Ethernet network. Devices used over the Ethernet may include a number of switches and routers to facilitate traffic over the Ethernet. Some switches and routers may be equipped with Power-Over-Ethernet (POE) capability. POE or ‘Active Ethernet’ eliminates the need to separately carry power to wireless access points or devices that are wired to it, for example, a LAN. With the use of the POE, a single cable, such as a CAT5 (Category-5, according to International Standards Organization standards) Ethernet cable, can be used to carry both power and data to each device and access point.
The switches, routers, and POE capable devices (POE devices) have multiple Ethernet connector ports. A POE device is connected with switches and routers through these multiple connector ports by Ethernet cables. It is desired that these Ethernet connections are not swapped. This is because swapping may cause improper functioning of a POE device.
The incorrect insertion of cables into connector ports can be avoided by using integrated plugs. However, this may not be convenient as connector ports, such as multiple Ethernet connector ports, are often built in the form factors of 1×4, 1×8, 2×4, 2×8, etc. Hence, high tolerance restrictions are required for the integrated plug to connect with connector ports. Further, multiple connector ports often have different dimensions even for the same form factor design. This makes the use of an integrated plug even more difficult.
Alternatively, to help avoid swapping or incorrect connections, the cables are numbered or tagged. For example, Ethernet cable numbered ‘i’ is to be inserted into Ethernet connector port ‘i’ on the switch or router. However, there is no mechanism to prevent inadvertent swapping of the cables with respect to connector ports when a user connects the cables to the connector ports.